YouTube Archive

When I was writing up last week’s Week In Smoke, I was a little surprised to discover we have never reviewed the Gurkha Vintage Selection Shaggy. I know it’s a cigar that I’ve talked about with people a number of times over the years, and people have had generally positive things to say about it. On more than one occasion I’ve been told it was one of the best, or the best Gurkha available. (That and the old G3, …

For your weekend viewing pleasure, I bring you a review of the new Hoyo by Hoyo de Monterrey. General Cigar wants to be clear here, this is not your father’s Hoyo de Monterrey. The cigar has a bold new look that follows the example of last year’s Hoyo de Monterrey Edición de Cumpleaños 150. And to emphasize that this is a new direction for the brand, you won’t find a mention of it on hoyodemonterreycigar.com. It has its own …

I’m a couple weeks late, but I’d like to start off this review by saying Happy Birthday, Avo! 90 is an incredible accomplishment- someone needs to ask Avo what the secret is to immortality, because I think he has it, both literally and figuratively.

This week I take a look at volume three in the Classic Covers line, the AVO 90th Classic Covers, a blend that is a “cover” of the AVO XO core line. We all know what a …

This week I have selection for you that’s probably a little surprising: the Henry Clay Tattoo. Surprising in that it’s a limited edition that hit the markets last year, around six months ago at this point. I have a couple of reasons for reviewing it now. The first and foremost is convenience. I was working on a viewer review request that just wasn’t going to come together in time, and I knew it. But there was this Henry Clay Tattoo …

My local shop introduced me to The Griffin’s Nicaragua a while back. The didn’t bring a lot of them in, at least as far as I can tell, but they told me it was good and I should try it. I bought one and my initial experience was positive. As I smoked it, I thought it’d be a fun cigar to review. When was the last time you smoked a The Griffin’s cigar? I know it’s been years for me. …

I had started working on a Week In Smoke for this week, but as I was drinking my coffee, a blend from Counter Culture called Apollo, a thought occurred to me- I’ll bet the Puro Vintage I smoked last week would go pretty well with it. So I dropped my pen (or keyboard), grabbed one, turned on the video camera and lit it up. Changing horses midstream means posting this later than usual, but I think it turned out well. …

Well, the holiday season is upon us. Even if it isn’t technically a holiday yet, it feels like one. So I decided to light up something nice this afternoon. Truth be told, I’ve been sneaking in Don Carlos Eye of the Sharks since they hit the shops a few weeks ago. I didn’t secure all that many, so I’ve been trying to make them last. So far I’ve made it to Thanksgiving without running completely out.

The spooky season is upon us, and I just happened to pick up a few of this year’s Tatuaje Monster Series The Hyde. Now ordinarily, I’d set these rarities to the side in the humidor and light one up in about a month (or three), but I thought it’d be fun to light one up right off the truck, as they say. And as long as I was already doing half the work of a cigar review, I might as …

A big thank you to Sam Morales of Drew Estate (you may know him as @drewestatedata on social media) for sending me this event exclusive Kentucky Fire Cured Yard Bird. It made its first appearance at the second annual Kentucky Barn Smoker in the Hopkinsville, KY on October 3rd. It then made its first appearance in my ashtray for this first impressions review a few days later on October 6th.

Drew Estate put Ben and I to work after our tour of the Royal Agio facility. Our job? To smoke a Balmoral Añejo XO while at the same time drinking one of the most sought after beers in the world, Trappist Westvleteren 12. It was tough work, but someone had to do it. Find out how it went in a mere two and a half minutes by clicking the play button.